Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and the characters are property of Watsuki Nobuhiro

Your Iris, My Love is property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran

Please enjoy~ :)

Chapter 3: Blood is to Ume & Iris is to?

"Exactly what do you mean by 'We can't find her' hm?" Yukishiro-dono wasn't yelling at his daughter's two bodyguards. He wasn't yelling because he wasn't mad, no, that wasn't the case. Although he wasn't yelling, he was still VERY furious. He sat in his chair with his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed down into a strong glare. Both hands gripped each armrest; the grip was so hard that the two bodyguards swore that they could see Yukishiro-dono's nails dig into the wood and make indents in it.

"Yukishiro-dono, it is as we said. We went to take care of the shadow assassins and when we went back to retrieve her, she was gone." Aoshi looked at his lord with his usual stoic look. "We spent hours looking for her. We thought, maybe that there was a small chance that she returned home by herself."

"Well she didn't."

"We know Yukishiro-dono." Misao paused and looked up at her lord with guilt in her eyes. "We are extremely sorry and just as worried about her as you are. She is our best friend." Misao's eyes began to tear up; sad that her best friend was missing and scared that something happened to her best friend.

Yukishiro-dono noticed the two's sad and guilty expressions. He understood the worry that they had for his daughter. Just as Misao said, the three were childhood friends and best friend that were practically inseparable. Yukishiro-dono put his hand on his forehead and sighed; thinking of what to do. "Alright. Rest up. We'll continue the search tomorrow."

The two ninjas nodded and headed to their rooms.

Yukishiro-dono leaned back in his chair. "What am I going to do? I can't lose another loved one." He closed his eyes and prayed, "Gods, please keep my daughter safe. My lovely wife, please watch over her as well. Tomoe and Enishi are the only ones I have left. Please help me protect them." He sighed and made his way to his room.

Enishi quickly ran down the hall from the conference room; where his father, Misao, and Aoshi were talking about Tomoe's disappearance. He made it to his room unnoticed and sat on his futon. 'Tomoe-nee-chan is missing?! Tomorrow, I have to go to town and find her!'

-------With Kenshin and Tomoe------

Kenshin didn't have a hard time carrying Tomoe on his back as he made his way to the dojo. To his surprise, she was pretty light. He made it to the dojo pretty quick and to his surprise; he saw candles lit inside the house next to the dojo. 'Kaoru-san is probably waiting for me.'

Kaoru heard him as he entered the house. She stood from her seat at the table and turned to see Kenshin carrying a beautiful woman on his back. Speechless, no words came from her mouth and no words came to thought. The two just stood there staring, Kaoru not knowing what to say and Kenshin waiting for her to say something.

Kaoru snapped out of her trance. "Ah, Kenshin-san, who is she?" She leaned over a little to get a better look at the woman.

"She fainted on the streets."

"I see." She paused. She examined the two, which caused her to finally notice the blood on the two's outfits, her eyes widened. "Kenshin-san! What happened?!"

A yawn was heard from behind her. "Geez Kaoru, can you be any louder? It's late." Sano paused as he saw Kenshin in the entryway. "I thought I heard someone come in. Whoa!" He let out a slow whistle of admiration. "You got yourself a girl huh? Nice. I knew you could snag up any girl if you wanted." Sano gave him a wink.

Kenshin ignored the wink and looked at Kaoru. "She was being attacked, so I saved her."

"Dang, I should've went with you! How many guys were there?" Sano asked as he took a seat down at the table. Kaoru sighed and did the same. Kenshin slowly and carefully laid Tomoe down on the floor and took a seat at the table, next to her sleeping body.

Sano leaned over the table a little to get a better look at Tomoe. He whistled in admiration once again. "Dang Kenshin! You were able to pick up the girl from the restaurant?! Lucky!"

A thump was heard as Kaoru hit Sano over the head. "Quiet down Sano, don't wake her up." Glares were exchanged from the two.

"I saved her Sanosuke-san. I didn't 'pick her up' as you say."

"Well that's boring then." Sano muttered as he crossed his arms. Kaoru sighed in relief over the fact that Kenshin didn't pick up this woman. "Well since you aren't gonna have her Kenshin, can I?" Sano gave Kenshin a wink and a charming smile. Another thud was heard as Kaoru hit him over the head once again. "Geez woman! I swear I'll die one day because of you!" She just gave him another glare.

She turned to Kenshin, ignoring the man that she's been beating up. "Well exactly what happened?"

"I noticed this woman when we were on the streets and saw that there were some men following her. Those men were actually shadow assassins."

"Shadow assassins?" Kaoru gave him a questioning look.

Sano crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind him. "Shadow assassins are the more highly skilled assassins. They're usually used by the rich to get rid of major threats or other upper class people. They're the ones that will never go down in history."

Kenshin nodded. "Sanosuke-san is correct. When I followed her out the restaurant, I found her surrounded by three shadow assassins. I saved her and she ended up fainting. I thought she fainted from the blood, but turns out she was just drunk."

"I see. Well both of you are okay right?" Kaoru asked with worry. Kenshin merely nodded. "Do you know her name?" Kenshin shook his head, indicating that he had no clue. "Well then, Kenshin-san could you come with me and bring her to a room?" She stood from the table and waited for Kenshin as he leaned over to pick up Tomoe. He carried the woman as he followed Kaoru down the hall to the guest room.

"Geez, just confess to him already. Obvious much?" Sano snorted and rolled his eyes. He stood from the table and walked a few steps down the hall; he turned left and entered his room with a yawn.

Kenshin followed Kaoru down the hallway. Right across from Kenshin's room, on the right side of the hallway, was another guess room. They stepped in and Kenshin waited as Kaoru was setting up the futon and blanket.

"All done. Now, just set her down." Kenshin did as told. He set her down under the blanket.

"Mmm." Tomoe groaned a little as she snuggled a little deeper under the blanket. Kenshin, lost in his own little world again, moved his hand forward and moved some strands of hair out of her face. He sniffed the air a little, 'White plum blossoms, ume.'

"Kenshin-san?" Kenshin snapped his hand back and jumped a little. He abruptly stood up from the ground and walked over to the table that was on the side of the wall. He put Tomoe's purple shawl on there and turned to walk out of the room. He made his way to his door but paused when he heard Kaoru call after him.

Kaoru stepped out of the room and slid the shoji close. "Kenshin-san, I'm glad that you're alright." She gave him a small smile.

He looked at her and gave a small nod. "Goodnight Kaoru-san." He gave a bow and walked inside his room and slid the shoji close.

Kaoru whispered in a soft voice, "Goodnight, Kenshin." And made her was up the hall to her own room.

-------The Next Morning-------

The bright light shined in Tomoe's face as she awoke from her slumber. Her eyes opened and squinted at the light. She put an arm over her eyes to block out the sun. 'What happened?' She grunted as images from the night before flashed into her mind. She quickly jolted up from her bed as she recollected her memories of the red headed man. She remembered some things from the previous night but not all.

She looked at her surroundings. "Where am I?" She stood from the futon and looked around the room again. A spare set of clothes was placed next to the futon. She quickly changed out of her bloodstained kimono and into the clean one.

She looked around again and spotted her purple shawl on a table and went to grab it. As she finished wrapping it around her arms, she looked back at her futon. "Maybe I should clean that up." She went over to the futon and began folding the blankets and folded up the futon. Although she was a princess, she still did chores around the house. Sure she was pampered by her father, but he wanted her to learn how to do her own things, including; cooking, laundry, cleaning, and anything more he could think of.

She finished with the futon and headed to the door. She quietly slid it open and slipped out of her room. She stood in the hallway, looking left and right, not knowing which way to go. She looked at her choices. 'Go left, go right, or…' She crept to the door across from the room she was sleeping in.

She quietly slid the shoji open and walked inside. The window was open, blowing a light breeze inside the room. She froze as she saw the red headed man from yesterday sleeping in the corner next to the window in sitting position, hugging his sword. 'How could he be comfortable like that?' She saw him slightly flinch from the cold breeze. 'Maybe he's cold…'

She quietly walked over to the window, trying not to wake up the red headed man. She slowly closed the window and looked back at the sleeping red head. He shivered a little again. 'He's still cold?' She looked around the room, but she wasn't able to find a blanket. An idea came to her as she looked at the shawl that was wrapped around her arms. 'I could lend him this. I could let him borrow this for a moment. Especially since I owe him my life. And he was gentlemanly enough to let me have my own room.' She unwrapped herself of her shawl and began inching forward to place it on the red head.

Her arms were almost around him until. The red headed man's purple eye flashed open and changed into an amber color. His left arm grabbed her right one in a tight grip and pushed forward, causing her to stumble back a little. Her eyes widened as she was pushed to the ground and the red headed man was on top of her; his right hand wielding a sword pressed against her throat.

A few seconds passed and his eyes widened, changing from amber back to the purple shade. He jumped back and withdrew his sword; putting it back in its' sheath. Tomoe sat up. Her hand touched her throat, feeling if there was a cut. She gave a small sigh of relief.

"What were you doing?" He looked at her with untrusting eyes.

"I saw you shivering so I was trying to wrap my shawl around you like a blanket since I couldn't find a blanket in here." She looked at him with unwavering eyes. 'Why should I be scared if I haven't done anything wrong?'

"…" He looked at her shawl and then at her. "I'm sorry." He paused again. "What is your name?"

"Yukishiro Tomoe."

His brows furrowed in deep thought. 'Where have I heard that name before?' Then it clicked to him "You are the princess…?"

She nodded. "Yes I am. And you are…?"

"Kenshin. Himura Kenshin."

"Nice to meet you Kenshin-san." She sat on her knees in formal style and bowed to him in respect.

He did the same. "Nice to meet you as well, Yukishiro-hime-sama."

"Tomoe is fine."

"…Tomoe-hime-sama."

"Just Tomoe." She gave a small smile. 'Kenshin-san is similar to Aoshi."

"…Tomoe…" He looked away, averting his eyes. "Then. Kenshin is fine as well."

She gave a small smile as she nodded. "Kenshin."

He looked at her through the corner of his eyes and away again.

The door slid open. "Kenshin-san wake up. I made—" Kaoru looked with surprise as she saw Tomoe and Kenshin sitting in a formal style in front of one another. "Ano…" Kaoru recovered from her shock and looked at Tomoe with a smile plastered on her face. "You're up! I'm Kamiya Kaoru. I run this dojo and house. May I ask what your name is?"

"Nice to meet you Kaoru-san." She paused to turn her body around to Kaoru. She bowed in a formal style and continued. "I am Yukishiro Tomoe."

Kaoru paused for a second, trying to remember where she heard the name from. Her eyes immediately widened, "YOU'RE THE PRINCESS?!"

--------A Few Moments Later------

Everyone was sitting around the table, Sano and Yahiko's bowls of rice were already empty while Tomoe, Kenshin, and Kaoru were still eating. Tomoe's kimono was cleaned from the blood and it was laid on the floor next to her seat.

The room was empty; no one knew what to say or how to say what they were thinking.

"So…" Yahiko started, "you're really the princess? Or are you just a fake?"

"YAHIKO!" Kaoru slammed her hands on the table. "How dare you ask someone that? Especially the princess! Don't you have any manners?!"

Yahiko huffed as he folded his arms. "Well, she's a complete stranger. What if she's lying and she's actually a murderer or thief?" He grunted and turned his head to the side, giving an annoyed look.

Kaoru sighed and shook her head. She turned to Tomoe. "I'm sorry Yukishiro-hime-same. Yahiko isn't very good with manners."

Tomoe looked at Yahiko and back to Kaoru. "It's fine. My brother is pretty similar to Yahiko-kun. And Tomoe is fine."

"So, Tomoe-chan, what exactly were you doing wandering the city alone?" Sano asked her with flirting look.

She looked at him in the eyes as she recalled the events of that night. "My friends and I were visiting the city. We went to that restaurant…Akabeko was it?" Sano nodded at her, indicating that she was correct. "Well," she continued, "my friends said they would be back and left the restaurant. After a while, they still weren't back so I went to go find them. I was wandering the streets until…until…" She stopped and paused again. She looked down at the table. "I can't remember what happened afterwards."

"You were surrounded by three shadow assassins that wanted to kill you and I saved you." Kenshin finished for her and continued to eat his breakfast.

Tomoe's looked at him. Her eyes widened a little as the rest of her memories came back to her. "That's right. And you…Kenshin, you made it rain blood."

Everyone went silent. Everyone besides Tomoe and Kenshin were wondering what she meant. Raining blood?

Kenshin stopped and looked at her, with his eyes slightly widening. Those words managed to freeze him every time, just like last night. His chopsticks slipped from his hands and a clang was heard as they hit the table.

This brought a deeper silence to the room. Kenshin NEVER made a blunder before. And here was this princess who has been here for less than a day and she already made him freeze in his tracks and drop his chopsticks. Exactly what was going on between the two?

"Last night," she paused, thinking back on her memories. "You really did make it rain blood. She looked at him. Again, with those unwavering eyes.

Kenshin's eyes widened more. 'Why? Why is it as if she can see right through me?'

Kenshin finally regained his composure. He sat up straight and looked at her with cold eyes. "I don't kill indiscriminately, only armed members of the Bakufu that oppose us. NEVER an unarmed man."

Everyone felt the tension that rose between the two. But they couldn't say anything. No, it wasn't that they couldn't, it was that they didn't know what to say. So they kept to themselves and silently watched the two.

She held her mask quite well; something she has learned to do over the years. From listening to the court and servants at the palace gossip and the ridiculous nobles, she learned how to hold her mask quite well; learning how to not show any emotion, no matter the situation. And in front of this red headed man's cold eyes, it was still held quite well.

"So people that carry swords are bad and people that don't carry swords are good? If I were wielding a sword last night, would you have killed me along with those men?"

He flinched a little, "That is…" He didn't know how to respond.

"And this morning?"

His eyes widened as he remembered the incident that occurred this morning.

"You talk big, saying you would never harm a civilian, but from what occurred this morning; I highly doubt that." She grabbed her kimono as she got up from her seat and bowed to everyone. "Thank you for the meal and allowing me to stay here for the night. I will take my leave now." She turned towards the door.

No one moved and no one knew what to say.

She paused before reaching the door, slightly turning her head around and looked at Kenshin. "If we happen to meet again, maybe by then you will have an answer for me. Farewell." And she walked out.

------Kenshin's POV------

Moments passed after Tomoe left the Kamiya household. Kaoru-san finished cleaning up the dishes and sat down at the table where Yahiko, Sanosuke-san, and I were still seated at.

"Raining blood? Kenshin, what did she mean by that?" Yahiko looked at me with curious eyes.

"…At the end of tragic scenes, they say that 'a rain of blood falls.' Last night, after I saved her, she must have said that because of the three killings from last night. It was probably her first time seeing a killing, so that was why she said that." She reminds me of something, but what?

"Kenshin, what did she mean about the incident that occurred this morning?" Kaoru-san looked at me with big, worried eyes.

"…I almost killed her."

"WHAT?" Sanosuke-san had a surprised look on is face. "How could that have happened?!" He still hasn't gotten over his shock apparently.

"…"

"Sano! Leave Kenshin alone! It's not like it was on purpose!" Kaoru-san had a fierce look in her eyes, always ready to defend me anytime. Kaoru-san and Sanosuke-san began their daily bickering and Yahiko just sat back and enjoyed the scene before him.

Tomoe…what does she remind me of? The white plum blossoms… I thought back as Hiko-shishou's words played in my mind. I closed my eyes, remembering what he told me many years before. "The smell of blood is as common as the smell of umes." What else? It wasn't only that. There was something else he said as well.

"Kenshin? Are you alright?" I snapped out of my thoughts as I saw everyone looking at me with worried and curious looks.

I merely nodded.

"I wonder if Tomoe made back to the palace alright." Kaoru-san paused as she took a look out the window. "It's raining pretty heavy outside."

And she didn't take an umbrella. I abruptly stood up and headed to the door, grabbing an umbrella along the way.

"Kenshin, where are you going?" The three stood from their seats as well.

I turned my head slightly to Kaoru-san. "She left without an umbrella." I walked out the door right afterwards.

As I stepped out and walked a few feet, I didn't think that I would see her standing out there in the rain.

She was soaked in the rain from head-to-toe. She turned around as she heard my footsteps. Her long ebony hair clung to her face as her kimono clung to her body. Even in the rain she was a beauty, even in the bloody rain she still bloomed. Just like an iris… Then, Shishou's words floated through my head once again. "An iris flower blooms best in the rain. No matter how harsh the conditions are, an iris is conspicuous in the rain, even in a sea of blood, it will still be the most beautiful one in bloom."

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked her in the eyes; her deep, penetrating black eyes.

"What are you doing in the rain?" I walked closer to her and held the umbrella over the both of us.

"I was going to leave, but I don't know my way home."

I turned and looked back at the house, noticing that Kaoru-san, Sanosuke-san, and Yahiko were standing at the doorway observing what was going on. I turned back and looked at Tomoe. "It's raining quite hard. Spending another night here won't hurt."

She nodded and began walking, but soon paused and turned to face me.

I stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

"We meet yet again. Do you have the answer?"

"No."

She turned and began walking again. I followed in step, making sure to cover the both of us with the umbrella.

"Then perhaps next time you'll have an answer." Maybe.

We reached the doorstep and Kaoru-san already brought out towels for us to use. We went inside to dry ourselves.

"Tomoe, I'll lend you some spare clothes." She nodded as she followed Kaoru-san to the back. The rest of the day led on as everyone asked Tomoe questions about her life in the palace and Tomoe just replied.

---------Back at the Palace--------

"Again, no sign of her." Aoshi said to Misao as they made their way back to the palace. Both were soaked from head-to-toe from searching in the rain.

"How was the search?" Yukishiro-dono asked as he met them at the front doors. His soaked attire also showed that he was out searching for his daughter as well.

"No good." Misao shook her head in dismay. "No sign of her today. How about your search Yukishiro-dono?"

"Same." He put a hand on his head and sighed. "And Enishi tried getting out of the palace as well."

"He wants to look for Tomoe-hime-sama as well. I saw him running back to his room as we were leaving the conference room last night."

"That's probably true Aoshi. He loves his sister so much, that would be the only drive for him to want to leave the palace." Yukishiro-dono sighed again and began making his way to his room. "You two get some rest. We have another search tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Yukishiro-dono." Aoshi and Misao said in unison and made their way down the hall.

"We'll definitely find her tomorrow for sure!" Misao had a determined look in her eyes.

Aoshi glanced at her and nodded. "I have a feeling we will."


Alright chapter 3 is up!! :)

it's been a while i know. sorry :(

I wanna thank tsunami1156 for reviewing :) Thanks!

And i wanna thank Bluemoon as well :) You really brought my hopes back up ^^ I just remembered why i wanted to write fanfics, to support my fave couples! and I promised myself i wouldn't take anything to heart as long as i wrote stories that i was satisfied with. :) So i wanna give you a special thanks :) If i'm still bad at the descriptions and transitions, please help me out . just tell me more specific. an example would help :)

Please read and review! :)

-sportiegrl out~